Mount Elgon National Park Travel Guide
A Complete Guide to Mount Elgon National Park, with travel information on what to do, where to go, things to see, maps & guides, where to stay, tips & advice. This is the most complete guide to hiking Mount Elgon with complete travel information to help you plan a trip to the park & the neighboring areas.
On this Guide
Find out more about the mountain, where to hike, where to stay, trekking information, a bit of history, communities that live on and around the mountain and much more. We focus on the part of the mountain that falls inside Uganda as this is what we know a bit about. Have you visited Mt Elgon? Have photos to share or stories to tell? Let us know and we’ll publish them here. Help spread the word!
Mount Elgon National Park
Mount Elgon National Park is located in the eastern part of Uganda just at border with Kenya. A visit to this region, you get a chance to discover the hidden treasures within Mount Elgon National Park and the Sipi waterfalls.
This park is a home to Mount Elgon which boasts of its largest surface area in the world with a caldera covering an area of about 40 square kilometers at its summit. Wagagai is its highest peak and straddles at altitude of about 4321 meters and features as the second highest peak in Uganda just after the Margarita of Rwenzori Mountain ranges. In Africa, it is the 8th highest peak although for many years, it featured as the tallest in this continent.
Mount Elgon Tours & More
Would you like to experience Mountain Elgon? Here are some of the most popular tours to the Elgon. These include day trips to multiday hiking tours to the highest peaks of the mountain.
The Mountain – Mesmerizing Mount Elgon
Mount Elgon is one of the best safari destinations located in Mbale and Sironko districts in Uganda and it is the eighth highest mountain in Africa. This mountain rises from the largest base of any freestanding mountain in the entire world. Mount Elgon was formed as a result of the tectonic activity that created the Rift valley and other volcanic features many years ago.
Imagine an ancient mountain, a volcano that has been standing solitary and silent for millennia. It is a base one of the largest in the world. Its springs feeding numerous rivers and waterfalls. Its rich soil nourishing communities across two countries and where you can wander the uncrowded trails to its summit at over four thousand meters (or fourteen thousand feet).
Mount Elgon is a bit of a secret. Its mesmerizing beauty and the unhurried tempo of the surrounding communities make this region an ideal place to relax, breathe in plenty of fresh air and be refreshed.
The tallest peak of Mount Elgon form a jagged circle around the caldera and has a diameter of about eight kilometers which is dotted with small crater lakes as well as the hot springs created by the Pleistocene glacial activity.
The tallest peak is well known as Wagagai which is set on the Uganda side of the border and lies on the southwest caldera rim. There are other peaks like the Mubiyi in the north, Kiongo in the south and the Jackson’s summit in the East.
The local people known as the Bagisu call the mountain Masaba, a name that was derived from their founding ancestors who is said to have appeared from a cave on the slopes many years ago. Meanwhile there was a European called Joseph Thomson who was the first to reach the mountain’s lower slopes and came nearer to it from the Masaai land.
Things to See
Mount Elgon National Park is one of the least explored protected areas in Uganda. A visit to this park rewards you with authentic experiences and while on your safari, the above listed activities should be a must for you to include in your bucket list.
The east of Uganda provides a wonderful variety of landscapes, vegetation and cultures. Right on the border with Kenya towers Mt. Elgon, an extinct volcano and one of the higher mountains in Africa.
Because of its gradual slope, a climb to the caldera or crater rim (4321 metres above sea level) does not require mountaineering skills. On the wooded slopes, part of which includes Mount Elgon National Park, great caves, gorges and waterfalls provide some of the most exciting scenery in Uganda, and the terraced coffee plantations and bamboo forests just enhance the wonderful views.
There are lots of things to see and do in Mount Elgon National Park.
Flora and Fauna
The cool heights of this magnificent volcano provide respite for humans from the hot plains below and the higher elevation offers refuge to unique floral and faunal diversity. The lower part on the other hand features the tropical montane forest with expansive stands of the bamboo. Above 3000 meters, the forest disappears and heath appears then the afro alpine moorland that covers the caldera.
Unique species of plants are found within this park including the giant groundsel and the endemic lobelia elgonensis.
Mammals
Mount Elgon is a home to a number of mammal species including duikers, leopards, buffaloes, hyenas, elephants, Baboon, Genet, Hyena, Duiker, Civet bushbuck, tree hyrax, buffalo, waterbuck, bush pig
Birds
Birdlife is particularly prolific in this area and a good bird book is essential. Some of the incredible birds to look for include the lammergeyer vultures, white starred forest robin, Jackson’s francolin and many more.
Sipi Falls
The Sipi Falls are a particular favourite with photographers, as is the old fashioned house that was a retreat for the last colonial governor of Uganda.
Nyero Rocks
In the Kumi district are Nyero rock paintings. Three painted shelters, close to each other, are a fascinating relic of life in Uganda four centuries ago.
Tororo
Tororo is a gateway to neighbouring Kenya through Malaba town so there is always plenty of local traffic in the village along the road.
Standing like a sentinel out of the flat landscape is the Tororo rock, a volcanic plug, rising about 1,800 metres and with steps and ladders constructed to aid climbers.
Karamoja Region
In the north-east lie the vast wide open spaces of Karamoja. In add land of scenic beauty, rocky mountains that were once active volcanoes interrupt the plains in spectacular fashion.
Unique Culture
In every region the colourful dances, dress and handicrafts of the people are well worth seeing. The village markets bustle with life, and local craftsmen work as they have done for generations. In this area visitors can discover the infinite variety our lifestyles and heritage which make Uganda so special.